Weber State Beats ISU 61-57

 
 
OGDEN, Utah- The outcome came down to the final seconds but the Idaho State men's basketball team lost 61-57 to Weber State on Saturday evening at the Dee Events Center in front of a crowd of 6,325.

Chris Hansen led Idaho State with 22 points and four steals in 37 minutes of action. Jeffrey Solarin had 17 points and seven rebounds.

"They were terrific," Idaho State coach Bill Evans said. "They played really hard and made some big plays for us."

Idaho State shot 42.1 percent from the field and Weber State shot 42.6 percent. The Wildcats out rebounded ISU 37-29. Weber State was 10-for-25 from the 3-point line.

The Bengals took care of the ball, turning it over only six times while Weber State was forced into 14 turnovers. Idaho State shot 48.1 percent in the second half while WSU was held to 39.1 percent in the final 20 minutes.

"Our kids played hard again but missed some free throws down the stretch that hurt us," Evans said. "That is part of the game. We should have made free throws down the stretch but we didn't."

The Bengals led 56-53 with 3:24 left in the game after a layup by  Hansen. Weber State rallied to take a 58-56 lead with two minutes left in the game. Solarin then hit one-of-two free throws to cut the Wildcat lead to 58-57 with 1:28 remaining.

Weber State's Joel Bolomboy hit one-of-two free throws with 26 seconds left and Hansen missed a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the game that allowed Ryan Richardson to seal the win with two free throws with eight seconds left in the game.

Idaho State trailed 29-23 at halftime but opened the second half on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 31. ISU took its first lead at 36-33 on a 3-pointer by Hansen with 15:17 left. The Bengals led by four points at 47-43 with 9:45 left after another 3-pointer by Hansen.

"We played hard," Evans said. "They are great kids who play the game the right way for the right reasons."

Both teams exchanged leads in the final nine minutes with neither team leading by more than four points.

Weber State took the lead for good on a basket by Chris Golden with two minutes left in the game.
 
Idaho State closes out the 2014-15 regular season with home games vs. Eastern Washington on March 5 and Idaho on March 7. Both games begin at 7 p.m. and they are the final home contest for seniors Chris Hansen, Jeffrey Solarin, Ajak Magot and Nnamdi Ezenwa.